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Top Ways to Celebrate Vishu In Apartments In Kerala

Vishu – “the festival of lights and fireworks” which is celebrated in the first day of first Malayalam month Medam that marks the New Year in Kerala. It is one of the most popular festivals celebrated across the world by Malayalees. According to Gregorian calendar, this festival always falls in mid-April.

Celebrating Vishu is the true reflection of happiness and prosperity as people from other faiths and beliefs come together to celebrate this New Year festival. The preparations are done with much pomp and joy in Kerala and also other parts of the world where Keralites stay.

Nowadays, individual houses have been replaced by multi-storey apartments and flats. Thus celebrating many festivals have been done just for name sake. But there is happy news!

Do you reside in an apartment in Calicut? In this article, we will take you to the every detail of celebrating Vishu in a most fantabulous manner in your apartment.

How to Celebrate Vishu this year?

Let’s tell you the significance of Vishu before explaining how it is celebrated.

Vishu is the beginning of harvesting season, and it falls on the first month of Malayalam month, Medam. It signifies the Sun’s transit to the mesha rasi (first zodiac sign of Indian astrological chart). Vishu is derived from the word in Sanskrit which means ‘equal’. Other parts of India such as Assam, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bengal also celebrate their New Year on the same day of Vishu, but with different names.

It is said that if your initial step is bad, your entire journey of that year will ne unsuccessful. So, it is quite important to see, feel and talk good on that day. Begin your day to make the whole year a successful one. Hence traditional vishukani is quite important part of the event.

Vishukkani literally means the first things witnessing in the auspicious day of Vishu. Thus the first things to be seen will be arranged in the puja room which will be discussed later in this article. New clothes, vishu sadya , vishu kani, being together with family and friends, giving or receiving vishu kaineetam and so much more to do on this day at your flat.

Vishukani like never before

Start your day with Vishukani. It is believed that vishu is incomplete without Kani. To see the Kani on Vishu, the kani must be prepared the previous night itself by elders at home. The things to be seen will be arranged in the uruli. Uruli decor must follow a unique way and it is kept in front of the statuette or picture of Lord Vishnu.

The uruli, a bell metal vessel, which is made of ‘panchaloham’ (an alloy of 5 different metals that represent water, fire, earth, air and celestial space) is used for the vishukani. Place a mixture of husked and unhusked rice and turmeric in the uruli. Keep all kinds of fruits, vegetables too. It is believed that, placing gold coin, money, gold ornaments will bring immense wealth when viewed first on Vishu. Never forget to place a freshly laundered white Kerala dhoti with golden embroidery. In many houses, Ramayanam, the hold book of Hindus will be placed along with other vishukani items arranged in the uruli. Vishukani will not be complete if there are no Kanikonna flowers, the national flower of Kerala. It is yellow in color and you can place it on uruli or along with the picture of Lord Vishnu.

You can also arrange a beautiful uruli with more vishukani items implementing a lot more ideas in your apartment. Choose a common room to arrange to prepare all these stuffs for every resident there. Behind the uruli, a garlanded idol of Lord Krishna along with valkannadi (mirror) and bell can be placed.

The eldest person will be the first person to view all these on Vishu morning around 4 am. The person lights up all the lamps, incense sticks and coconut cut into halves with ghee too and wake rest of the members by blindfolding them and lead to vishukani decoration.

In front of kani, they can open their eyes and view all the things arranged in front of Lord Vishnu. This is how every Malayalee is supposed to start their routine on Vishu to ensure health, wealth and happiness throughout the year.

Enjoy the Delicious Vishu Sadhya

The most important part of the Vishu celebration is the deliciously cooked food known as sadhya. You could have seen for every special occasion, sadhya will be provided by the Keralites. It is a combination of many traditional vegetarian dishes which will be served on a banana leaf. There will be 24 different dishes and no cutlery will be used while having sadhya. Enjoy making all those yummy dishes together at your apartment and get the real essence of vishu. It is great time to do some family and friends bonding.

Enjoy, Enjoy And Enjoy…..Burst The Crackers

Right after viewing vishukani, let the kids enjoy bursting crackers. It is difficult to burst crackers when you stay at apartment. But you can still enjoy if every family take a step forward to burst crackers from a common place or terrace. Make the most of this celebration time with your friends and family. Make sure, kids must not be left alone as there is a danger of accidents. Different types of crackers will be available in the market days before the festival. So, enjoy the evenings with other family members at your apartment before the festival itself. It is a true way to bring all together with affection.

Games At Vishu

If every family at apartment is preparing different vishukani, you can announce the winner of best vishukani decorated family. Attractive prizes will add extra happiness to the event. Also, you can ask each family to prepare each dish in the sadhya to know the best yummy dish. After sadhya, all the families can spend the afternoon together with exciting games for women, men and kids too. If there are old aged individuals, don’t forget to include them too. Watching Malayalam movies will add spice to the whole event.

Best of vishu – Vishu Kaineetam

Here is the best of all. ‘Vishukaineetam’. Every person loves this practice at vishu. It is believed that elder individuals gift money to the younger ones. There is no strict rule on the amount of offering. This is where you will find thrilled and excited people everyone in Kerala. This is a blessing which is believed by every family. At your flat in Calicut, let the eldest member of whole families give kaineetam to younger ones. Since there will be more persons, you can fix the amount as Rs 1 as a blessing. The belief is that if you share the wealth, you wealth will grow in abundance.

Conclusion

Never step back from celebrating Vishu this year which falls on April 15, 2018 since you are residing at the apartment. Know that any festivals can be celebrated if you have a mind to do it in the utmost traditional way by bringing all together under single umbrella. Pass the value and significance of Vishu to the younger generations through us.

Happy Vishu 2018 to everyone.

PVS Builders, One of the renowned builders in Kerala offers luxury apartments in Calicut, Kannur and Aluva. To know more details, Contact us at +91 495 2766244, 2766362